Fleet Feet Tweets #1

Fleet Feet Tweets: Tweets that have migrated to my blog for those who don't do Twitter. They are listed here in chronological order. The intention is to offer a kind of journal of the creative process, as I try to write my first YA novel. If you are a Twitterite, follow me at @TomBirdseye.Starting a new novel. Usually begins with a character, this time a scene. From the blood on snow I knew right away that this would be a YA.What to do when scenes for a new novel keep on popping into my head? Take notes as fast as possible, and thank the Muse for the gifts.Scenes go nowhere without characters. Who is it at the bottom of that slope, staring ashen-faced at blood on snow?Got lost trying out Scrivener. Note to self: Beware the New Software Trap! Write first, and then -- if there is time -- get techy.Experimenting with point of view. Also, voice. Nothing clicking yet, but I'm having fun trying to find to find the right resonance.Clearing the deck (aka cleaning my office), making physical room as well as mental for the new novel to take over my brain.Is it possible that a certain spot to the side of a trail can illicit creativity? But only if I am running past it? No stopping allowed?Woke up this morning with the first scene of my new novel playing in my head. I had no idea it would turn comic. Well, comic then tragic.Turns out my protagonist is named Wren. Possibly. His face is still too blurred to tell for sure. I like him, though. He reads books.Wren is a trail runner as well as a reader. This comes up every book: how much of myself goes into my protagonist? Default setting: lots.As characters appear in the story, they need names. I put in placeholders at first, then go back and try to find the perfect tag.I find it hard to get far with a first draft until I've found the right voice. Lots of free writing, character development, but no voice.The working title of my new YA novel -- Fracture Lines -- has pulled up a chair, helped itself to the chips and dip, made itself at home.